RUSSIANS REDUCE DELIVERIES OF GAS BY 40 % TO BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Feb 25 (Hina) - Deliveries of natural gas from Russia to Bosnia-Herzegovina had been reduced by 40 per cent since Monday due to unsettled debts, said an official of British governmental ODA (Overseas Development Agency) that has been maintaining and reconstructing gas plants in Bosnia for three and a half years. A Russian 'Gaseksport' company has cut down gas supplies deliveries, because a US$ 12.4 million debt, which refers to expenses incurred from October 1995 to October 1996, has not been paid off yet. A total debt for gas, into which Bosnia went during the war, has been frozen and it amounts to US$ 104 million. It has been agreed that only gas bills after October 1995 should be paid. Bosnian (Croat-Moslem) Federation and Sarajevo canton authorities refused to pay bills for delivered gas supplies, as they maintained that most of gas had been spent in the territory of the Serb entity, the ODA official, Tony James, said on Tuesday. He said that it had been agreed recently that the Bosnian Serb side should cover a part of the debt, but the agreement had never been implemented. Last week, Bosnia's Ministerial Council co-chairmen, Haris Silajdzic and Boro Bosic, said that the gas consumption was the matter of commercial treaties, and a Sarajevo firm 'Energoinvest' and other companies that had signed agreements, should cover costs. James warned that the World Bank had granted financial means to the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina for ensuring the functioning of necessary infrastructure, including gas supplies delivery, and it remained unclear why state authorities failed to meet their obligations. (hina) mm mš 251840 MET feb 97